scholarly journals The Free Trade Agreement and Investment Dispute Settlement Between the European Union and Vietnam: A Critical Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-83
Author(s):  
Umut Turksen ◽  
Ha T. Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Open Market ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Stepping Stones ◽  
Investment Protection

Abstract The European Union (EU) is an open market economy, and against the rise of protectionism globally, the ‘Global Europe: Competing in the world’ communication of European Commission in 2006 reflected the EU perspective that Free Trade Agreements as alternatives can go further and faster in promoting openness and integration, by tackling issues which are not readily available for multilateral negotiations and by preparing the stepping stones for the next level of multilateral liberalization. After the prolonged negotiations and the EU’s legislative processes, the European Parliament gave its consent to both agreements of European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and Investment Protection Agreement on 12 February 2020. Those bilateral instruments promote enhanced transparency and regulatory best practices that are consistent with existing international norms or standards, also an important stepping stone and a show-case for the EU’s longer-term goal of a region-to-region (EU - Southeast Asia) trade deal. Those agreements have established a new two-level judicial structure with the strong judicial character (Investment Tribunal System – ITS) which Vietnam has accepted via legally binding commitments. It is important for Vietnam to follow the good governance standards and the rule of law principles. If the ITS works well, it will provide additional safeguards and guarantees to investors whereby FDI flows to Vietnam are likely to increase. Finally, the ITS regime provides a powerful incentive or a catalyst to review and modernize the domestic legal system of Vietnam not only to improve the investment eco-system in Vietnam but to pave the way for optimization of its economic potential and competitive power in the region (i.e. in the ASEAN).

National Treatment and MFN in the (Invisible) EU Model BIT

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 484-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonios Tzanakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Treatment ◽  
Bilateral Investment Treaty ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
The North ◽  
Investment Treaty

This article discusses the potential provisions on national treatment and most-favoured-nation (mfn) treatment to be included in a future model bilateral investment treaty (bit) of the European Union (eu) against the background of the leaked draft text of the Canada-eu Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (ceta) investment chapter. It concludes that the relevant eu treaty practice seems to be closer to investment protection models influenced by the North American Free Trade Agreement (nafta), such as those prevalent in the Canada and us Model bits, and that a future eu Model bit along these lines will depart significantly from the investment treaty practice of eu Member States.

Free Trade Agreement between Tunisia and the European Union, Do Institutions Matter?: An Empirical Validation by A Gravity Model

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-36
Author(s):  
Anis Kacem
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Gravity Model ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Spatial Econometrics ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Institutional Dimension ◽  
North And South

Tunisia has signed a free trade agreement with the European Union in 1996, which provides for the reduction of tariff barriers between Tunisia and the EU. In this article, we aim to know and test whether the similarity of the institutional framework has to stimulate international trade between Tunisia and the European Union. In this context, we built a variable called “Institutional distance” to valid the institutional dimension of international trade, near borders effects reported in the literature. To this end, a gravity model was used initially (Tunisia and 21 European countries). Secondly, the estimate shows the existence of spatial autocorrelation. The latter has been corrected using spatial econometrics. The results show that the geographical distance remains more important than the institutions in this type of agreement between north and south shores of the Mediterranean.

Ein ökonomisches Happy End aus geostrategischen Gründen? Erfolgsaussichten für den Freihandel zwischen der Europäischen Union und Indien

IG ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-317
Author(s):  
Mariano Barbato
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Good Chance ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Decisive Reason ◽  
Climate Crisis

The talks that have been resumed for reaching a free trade agreement between the European Union and India have a good chance for success. Both partners, especially India, have to achieve new economic dynamics in order to be able to face the challenge posed by China. This decisive reason is supported by Brexit, the pandemic and the climate crisis, which also spark an exogenous, geostrategic dynamic that gives new impetus to the paralyzed liberal paradigm of free trade. Taken together, it is likely that exogenous geostrategic factors realign the endogenous economic factors and thus promote a positive outcome despite the ongoing weakness of liberal free trade ideas.

OPINION 2/15 OF THE CJEU: DELINEATING THE SCOPE OF THE NEW EU COMPETENCE IN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Rumiana Yotova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Eu

ON 16 May 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its Opinion 2/15 concerning the competence of the EU to conclude the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore (EUSFTA) (ECLI:EU:C:2017:376). The Opinion was requested by the Commission which argued, with the support of the European Parliament (EP), that the EU had exclusive competence to conclude the EUSFTA. The Council and 25 of the Member States countered that the EUSFTA should be concluded as a mixed agreement – that is, by the EU and each of its members – because some of its provisions fell under the shared competence of the organisation or the competence of the Member States alone.

Singapore and Its Free Trade Agreement with the European Union: Rationality ‘Unbound’?

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 858-889
Author(s):  
Mahdev Mohan
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Investment Treaties

Abstract Querying Poulsen’s view that some States negotiate investment treaties in ‘bounded’ rational ways, this article focuses on how the recently concluded European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) illustrates the evolution of Singapore’s treaty practice. Singapore has abandoned the ‘old’, and has joined the bandwagon of next-generation FTAs; yet, shrewdly, it is not fully convinced about the ‘new’ either. For example, the EUSFTA does not include a most-favoured nation clause, and does not commit to an appeals mechanism, unlike its Canadian and Vietnamese counterparts. Singapore’s caution appears to be motivated by a pragmatic desire to avoid the pitfalls that these provisions could bring with them, as Investor-State arbitration (ISA) jurisprudence demonstrates, and to study the implications of a recent decision by the EU’s highest court regarding the FTA. Indeed, that shows that the EU itself is now equally wary of the ISA regime removing disputes from the jurisdiction of national courts.

The eu-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement – A Successful Attempt to Protect Vietnam’s Environment While Pushing for Economic Integration?

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-222
Author(s):  
Heidi Stockhaus
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Successful Attempt ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
The Eu

The new free trade agreement with the European Union will bring Vietnam’s economic integration to a new level once it enters into force. In the past, the associated economic growth has led to environmental deterioration due to inappropriate regulations and poor enforcement. Currently, environmental problems are visible everywhere and attract the attention of citizens as well as lawmakers. The new free trade agreement establishes a framework for sustainable development in the context of trade and investment. The relevant provisions aim to maintain Vietnam’s right to regulate for the targeted protection level, require the country to take measures to mitigate the pressure on the environment, and open the door for cooperation with the European Union. However, it remains to be seen, whether these provisions balance the risks associated with the increase in trade and investment through the free trade agreement.

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